The enzymatic response of a natural deep-sea microbial community to input of organic matter was investigated by substrate enrichment experiments. Sediments from the BIOTRANS area at 47"N 20°W in the NE Atlantic (4500 m depth) were supplied with particulate and dissolved organic matter from stenhzed net plankton and incubated under in situ pressure and temperature. Changes in the potential hydro...

A beta-glucosidase was purified from the digestive fluid of the palm weevil Rhynchophorus palmarum L. (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) by chromatography on anion-exchange, gel filtration, and hydrophobic interaction columns. The preparation was shown to be homogeneous on polyacrylamide gels, beta-glucosidase is a monomeric protein with a molecular weight of 58 kDa based on its mobility in SDS-PAGE a...

Inhibitors of carbohydrate-hydrolysing enzymes play an important role for the treatment of diabetes. One of the therapeutic methods for decreasing of postprandial hyperglycemia is to retard absorption of glucose by the inhibition of carbohydrate- hydrolysing enzymes, such as α-glucosidase, in the digestive organs. To investigate the therapeutic potential of compounds from natural sources, Calli...

An extracellular beta-glucosidase from Thermoascus aurantiacus was purified to homogeneity by DEAE-Sepharose, Ultrogel AcA 44 and Mono-P column chromatography. The enzyme was a homotrimer, with a monomer molecular mass of 120 kDa; only the trimer was optimally active at 80 degrees C and at pH 4.5. At 90 degrees C, the enzyme showed 70% of its optimal activity. It was stable at pH 5.2 and at tem...

Background Cellulolytic enzymes produced by Trichoderma reesei are widely studied for biomass bioconversion, and enzymatic components vary depending on different inducers. In our previous studies, a mixture of glucose and disaccharide (MGD) was developed and used to induce cellulase production. However, the enzymatic profile induced by MGD is still not defined, and further optimization of the e...

1. The activities of lysosomal enzymes in the cortexes and medullas and the principal subcellular fractions of rat kidney were measured. 2. A method is described for the isolation of rat-kidney lysosomes and a detailed analysis of the enzymic composition of the lysosomes is reported. Enzyme analysis of the other principal subcellular fractions is included for comparison. 3. Studies of the distr...

The volatile organic compounds (VOCs) of two Coronilla species (Coronilla orientalis Miller and Coronilla varia L.) obtained by hydrodistillation (HD) and solid phase microextraction (SPME) techniques were identified by GC-FID/MS. The major compounds identified in the SPME extracts were limonene (43.4%) in C. orientalis, (Z)-β-ocimene and (E...

We previously described the effects of intake of dairy products on plasmid dissemination in the digestive tract of gnotobiotic mice associated with human faecal flora (HFF) and found that yoghurt, heat-treated yoghurt (HTY) and milk reduced population levels of transconjugants compared with findings in mice fed a standard mouse diet. In the case of lactose intake, transconjugants were not detec...

If changes in the composition of the soil microbial community alter the physiological capacity of the community then such changes may have ecosystem consequences. We examined the relationships among community composition (PLFA), microbial biomass (CFDE), substrate utilization profiles (BIOLOG), lignocellulose degrading enzyme activities (b-glucosidase, cellobiohydrolase, b-xylosidase, phenol ox...